Quarter After One
by Revert to Normal
Summary: Tony put his foot in his mouth again, but this time his comment hit a little too close to home with Gibbs. Can their relationship survive?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Don't tell the people that read my supernatural story that I wrote another NCIS story so fast. They might get jealous...This was sorta inspired by Lady Antebellum's song "I Need You Now" Gibbs' is a little ooc, but he's drunk and depressed, so whatever. Enjoy!

* * *

'_Well, this wasn't the fun filled evening I had envisioned_,' Tony thought. He was alone in his apartment, watching an old movie, alone. Feeling completely alone…Being alone sucked. If he hadn't opened his big mouth, he would probably be at Gibbs', sitting on _his_ couch, not being alone. Stupid, Tony. Absolutely stupid beyond belief. He knew the general story behind Gibbs' first marriage. He definitely knew enough to know his comment was better kept to himself. Or better yet, not thought at all. Even he could see how inappropriate it had been.

Who the hell says that if the husband had been home, his wife would probably still be alive? Anthony DiNozzo, screw up extraordinaire, that's who. As the words were leaving his mouth he knew he had gone too far. Gibbs had turned the icy glare usually reserved for people who killed children on him. That was around 1300. Gibbs had said two words to him after that: go home.

Home. Not Gibbs' house. His own apartment. Where he was alone.

Tone leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. This was it. Whatever he had going with Gibbs was over. His place on the team was most likely gone. Yeah, he'd managed to screw up every aspect of his life with one sentence. That had to be a record.

`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`

Gibbs was lying underneath his half finished boat, empty glass in his one hand and a mostly empty bottle of whiskey by his other hand. He had yet to use the glass, opting to drink from the bottle. This case already had him thinking about Shannon and Kelly. DiNozzo's comment hadn't helped anything.

"Just think, if the husband would've been home, his wife would still be alive. How can someone justify leaving their family behind when this sort of thing happens?"

God, how many times had he asked himself the same thing? Did serving his country really out rank his family? It's not like had ever thought something like that would happen. But neither did the poor man whose wife was killed during a home invasion. The only reason she was targeted was because it was a known fact her husband was over seas. He could sympathize what the man was going through. He'd be angry, want revenge, and would either be consumed by that hatred or become depressed and drink his problems away. Jethro had done both. And now it looked like he was heading down the same road if the bottle next to him was any indication.

He kept waiting for the one person that was able to pull him out of his funks to come down the stairs. Sweeping in and making his problems _their_ problems. But the person he had come to depend on was the one that had pushed him over the edge this time. That person had taken an already sore subject and ripped it apart. That person was Tony.

He had avoided the younger man all afternoon, only speaking to him when he told Tony to go home. Home, making it clear that he wasn't welcomed at Gibb's house. Maybe never would be again. He knew that Tony hadn't meant anything when he had said it, at least hadn't meant anything about Gibbs. He couldn't have, not when he didn't know the full story of what had happened to his family. But he knew enough. Enough to realize that what he was saying was not only insensitive to the widower, but to Gibbs.

Of course, Tony had looked horrified as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He had known that what he did was uncalled for and inappropriate. How many times had he attempted to apologize just to have Gibbs brush him off? Maybe it was immature to throw what they had out the window because of one comment.

Sighing, Gibbs looked at his watch, squinting to bring the blurry face into focus. A quarter after one. Tony was probably still up, berating himself for being an idiot. He wouldn't get an argument from Gibbs about that. But still, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to know that there was a chance for forgiveness.

He'd promised himself he wouldn't call, he wouldn't be the one to break first. But the whiskey was doing its job and making it hard to stick to that decision. He needed the younger man. That simple truth had him reaching for his cell, ready to tell Tony that he really couldn't do without him in his life and that he needed him now.

* * *

A/N: Soo...the ending does suck. I'll admitt it. But I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to fix it. And it got really sappy out of nowhere. Almost made **_me_** hurl. Hopefully it was still okay. Feel free to review. I'll even take flames for this one, heh.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's the next chapter...it was supposed to be the last one, but I decided to drag it out. But I think that means I've forced myself into writing some smut...oops. Well, enjoy! And please review!

* * *

Tony looked across his dark apartment at his cell phone. It was ringing. Actually, it had been ringing for the past five minutes. He hadn't bothered answering it for a couple of reasons. It was really far away, at least six steps. He didn't want to talk to anybody. Who would be calling at this time? And the one person he did want to talk to, most certainly didn't want to talk to him. The ringing stopped, and Tony went back to staring at the ceiling, contemplating how stupid one person could be before they started de-evolving. After so many idiotic things, you had to become less human, right? Would you turn into a monkey? Or maybe something lower, like a dung beetle. He felt like a dung beetle right about now.

The phone started ringing this time. Realizing he wasn't going to be allowed to figure out what he was going to eventually deteriorate into, Tony got up and made his way over to the table he had tossed the phone onto earlier.

_Gibbs_

Shit! Tony panicked at the sight of the name. Before he could stop himself, he had pushed a button and ignored the call. Ignoring the call sent it to voicemail. Gibbs would realize the ringing had stopped sooner than it was supposed to. He would know Tony had ignored him on purpose.

Shit! He had ignored Gibbs. Wait…Gibbs was as anti-technology as you could get. No way he would know you could ignore a phone call by pushing a button. Right? The phone started ringing again. Tony stared down at the screen for a few seconds. He flipped it open before he could chicken out again.

"Gibbs?"

`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_

Tony sat in his car, staring at Gibbs' front door. He'd come because Gibbs had said they needed to talk. What if that was marine speak for "I want to kill you in the comfort of my own home,"? After all, why would he want to talk to Tony after what was said today?

Sighing, Tony got out of the car and made his way up to the door. He hesitated. He knew the door wasn't locked, it never was. And he had always just walked right in, even before they had gotten involved with each other. But this time was different. He wasn't here as an employee, a friend, or a lover. He was here to be killed. Were you allowed to walk into your soon to be murder's house? Were there etiquette rules for that type of thing? Where was Ms. Manners when you needed her?

As he was going over all the social rules he knew, none of which applied to this situation, the door opened. Tony's head dropped, his eyes finding a spot on the porch to stare at. Never stare a pissed off lion in the eye, he'll think you're challenging him. And right now, Tony was in no place to be challenging anything. He was the equivalent of blind and wounded gazelle.

"You gonna come in or what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, looking at the younger man. He almost smirked when Tony flinched at the sound of his voice. When he didn't get a response, Gibbs shook his head and walked into the kitchen, knowing Tony would follow. Eventually.

Following in Gibbs' wake, Tony walked into the house and shut the door. He took his time taking off his jacket and shoes, trying to put off the coming confrontation. Running out of things to do, he reluctantly made his way into the kitchen, keeping his head down, eyes trained on the floor. He hovered in the doorway of the room, bracing himself for whatever Gibbs threw at him. Figuratively or literally.

Gibbs busied himself with pulling two beers out of the fridge, dragging the uncomfortable moment out. He may be willing to forgive Tony, but that didn't mean he had to take it easy on him. Second b for bastard and all. He set the bottles on the counter with a sharp 'click' watching as Tony jumped a little at the noise. He never thought he'd see the day that Tony was unsure of what to say and how to act.

"Look, DiNozzo," Gibbs started.

"Gibbs, I really didn't," Tony said at the same time. They both stopped, Gibbs looking at Tony, and Tony still looking at the floor. When Gibbs didn't continue, Tony started again.

"I really didn't mean what I said earlier. It was out of line and disrespectful. Not only to the husband, but to you as well," Tony chanced a look at Gibbs before quickly looking down again. "I'd understand it if you wanted to call this thing we have off. Or if you wanted me off the team. I can clear out my desk later today."

Tony reached up to nervously rub the back of his neck. Gibbs hadn't so much as moved while he had been talking. Tony had hoped that he would've jumped in and said he didn't want Tony to leave. As the silence dragged on, Tony felt the little bit of hope that maybe Gibbs didn't completely hate him disappear.

"Uh, I guess I'll go now. Maybe clear out my desk now so you won't have to see me later," Tony turned to go, glancing at Gibbs out of the corner of his eye. The man still hadn't moved, he was just blankly staring at Tony.

Sighing, Tony walked back the way he had come. He was bending down to put his shoes back on when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around. For a second blue eyes pierced his own before he was being pushed into a wall. His back and shoulders hit hard, making the pictures move. His head cracked against the wall, causing his vision to grey out for a second. As Tony regained his sight, he noticed Gibbs was a few inches from him with a look he couldn't read on his face. Obviously his first idea had been right. Gibbs was going to kill him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So, so, so sorry this took so long to update. I thought this was going to end up being the smutt chapter, and I was putting it off. Imagine my surprise when it turned out...it wasn't! Oops. But here's the mushy crap that has to get out of the way before our boys get it on. Enjoy!

* * *

"You don't get to runaway from the problem. Not this time," Gibbs growled. He watched as Tony's eyes focused again. When he was sure the younger man was paying attention Gibbs let go of his shirt and stepped back.

Tony stood there, back still pressed against the wall. He had never truly been scared of Gibbs before. Wary of him, yes. Concerned for his well being if he continued to piss Gibbs off, all the time. But flat out scared? Not once. Until now. He had faced down serial killers that were less terrifying than the man standing in front of him now.

Tony's eyes were wide. Whether from shock of being pushed into a wall, pain from being pushed into a wall, or fear of him, Gibbs wasn't sure. But if he had to put money on it, he'd go with the third option. Tony had been shoved into enough walls not to be surprised when it happened. And he never allowed his pain to show on his face. Gibbs ran a hand over his face.

'_Great, now he's scared I'm going to beat the crap out of him or something._'

Seeing Gibbs momentarily distracted, Tony weighed his chances of being able to make it to his car before Gibbs caught him. Probably not in his favor. Gibbs was surprisingly quick for an old guy. Normally this was to Tony's advantage, not only at work, but in the bedroom too. Now he was wishing Gibbs was a cripple that couldn't lift a spoon without help. Hoping that luck was with him for once, Tony inched along the wall towards the door. He was reaching for the door when a hand gripped his wrist. Looking to his left he saw Gibbs, his hand wrapped around Tony's and a look of dejection on his face.

"Tony, I didn't mean…I'm…Can we just talk about this?" Gibbs asked. Tony looked from Gibbs' face to his hand and back again, nodding.

`_`_`_`_`_`_

Tony looked across the small living room at Gibbs who was seated in the recliner. Tony couldn't place the look he was wearing. He had never seen it before on the older man. It almost looked sadness with a hint of fear. No, he had definitely never seen either of those emotions on Gibbs' face. He sat, pressed into the corner of the couch, waiting for Gibbs to start talking.

Gibbs looked at Tony, shoved into the couch and looking like a kid in trouble for breaking something. Well, something was broken all right. And it wasn't something that could easily be fixed. The problem was, how could it be fixed? What had started out as a stupid comment had escalated into something much bigger.

"I shouldn't have pushed you," Gibbs started, figuring that should be cleared up first.

"No," Tony answered, his voice clipped.

"And you shouldn't have said what you said earlier," Gibbs almost snapped. Tony wasn't making things any easier by making Gibbs the bad guy.

"No," Tony's voice was little more than a whisper now. He looked down at the floor, his foot tracing a pattern in the carpet.

Gibbs sighed. Neither one of them was good at sharing how they felt. Unfortunately they didn't have that luxury this time. If they wanted to work things out, they were going to have to suck it up. Of course, it only worked if both of them went along with the plan. And from the looks of it, Tony was content with just sitting there.

"Can we fix this?" Gibbs asked. He hoped like hell they could, but it was pointless to try if Tony didn't want to.

"Should we?" came Tony's reply after a few seconds of silence. He didn't look up as he spoke; instead he became more focused on that spot on the floor. Gibbs stared. Whatever it was he was expecting, it wasn't the sound of defeat he was getting from the younger man. Did Tony not even want to try to make things better?

"This doesn't seem to be working. I annoy the hell out of you because I can't sit still. You don't ever want to do anything, so I annoy you for something to do. We see each other all the time, at work, at home. We can't even tell anyone about us!" Tony looked up at Gibbs. "It just doesn't seem worth it anymore."

Gibbs could literally feel his world falling apart. The first person that he had loved since Shannon was practically out the door. He'd had plenty of women walk out on him before, but he never cared about them like he did Tony. He had let them leave. He wouldn't let Tony go so easily.

"It is," Gibbs said his voice soft. At Tony's confused look he explained, "It is worth it."

"It's just getting too hard. Isn't love supposed to be easy?" Tony asked, burying his head in his hands.

"Falling in love is easy. But keeping it alive? That's the real test. If it really is love, it's worth fighting for," Gibbs stood and walked to sit next to the younger man. "I want to fight for us. But it works better with two."

"Even if we make it past this, how do we know it won't happen again?" Tony asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"We don't."

Tony stiffened slightly at the blunt words. He wasn't sure what he had been hoping for. Maybe some assurance that what they had couldn't be broken, but even Gibbs couldn't promise something like that he supposed.

"How did you know Shannon was the one?" Tony asked after a few minutes of silence. He didn't really want to bring up the past, especially since that was what had started this whole thing. But he couldn't stop the words from coming.

"I just did. When I went to sleep, all I thought about was her. She was my first thought when I woke up. I couldn't imagine a day without her in my life. You just know when it's the one, Tony."

Tony looked at Gibbs. He was shocked that Gibbs was talking this much. It made sense though. He wasn't in the mood to talk, so someone had to do it. Still, Gibbs never talked this much, and certainly never about his feelings. That alone was enough to convince Tony that everything Gibbs was saying was true.

"What about me?" He needed to know if he had a chance against the memory of Gibbs' lost family. If not, it'd be better to cut his losses and run now.

"You're worth the fight. You got my six in this one?"

"Always, boss."

* * *

A/N: And ther you have it. It got really mushy at the end, but they had to make up. And after that big a fight, they had to talk about some of their feelings. Don't worry, the next chapter will be pure smutt. So if you don't like that much detail, this could easily be the end for you, and I thank you for reading. If you're like me and love some guy-on-guy action, the next chapter will be up in the next week or so. It's already half written!


End file.
